Finrod Rock Opera Promo Post

[grundyscribbling]

 

(written by thepastisaroadmap )

Summary: This is a couple different Russian stage productions of the part of the Lay of Lethian focusing on Finrod, which covers the time between Beren and Luthien’s meeting to escape from Tol-in-Gaurhoth. It is a rock opera, which means it’s a sung-through musical.

Why should I check out this canon? Musicals are a good form to adapt the legendarium into! It works particularly well for the battles between Finrod/Luthien and Sauron, where the song bends between their leitmotifs. Truth (Finrod's final song), the meeting of Beren and Luthien, and the quarrel with the sons of Feanor are also really good songs.

There are also some intriguing implications of canon divergence, including Celegorm and Curufin being the only remaining sons of Feanor, Sauron being an amalgamation of himself and Melkor, and the implication of Sauron rehabilitation/orc healing in recent performances (during Galadriel’s final song, Thingol and Melian heal the orcs while Finrod goes to a defeated Sauron and leads him into the cast as a whole). The loyalty between Finrod and Beren is showcased quite strongly; they have a couple of duets together. The 2001 Temple version also includes Caranthir in Nargothrond! (All of the sons of Feanor are still alive in this version, and they’re wearing the burning of the swan ships on their costumes.)

Where can I get this?

Many of the productions exist on YouTube in full! As far as I’m aware, the only English-subtitled versions are this video of the 2014 production and the 2001 Temple production. (These can be machine translated into other languages as well.) However, asterisq on ao3 has created an excellent line-by-line English translation of the lyrics for both the 2014 production and 2021-2023 ones, available here . This YouTube playlist includes full versions of many other productions.

What fanworks exist already?

There are not very many fanworks for this, but one I particularly like is this really lovely piece of fan art . There is also a small fandom for this show on tumblr!